Intuitive interfaces for real-time collaborative intelligence

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods for user interfaces for use on a computing device of a real-time collaborative computing system. A collaborative application runs on the computing device and displays information and data regarding the collaboration system and also receives user input via the user interface. The display interface arrangement may vary based on a type of collaborative session. Graphical user interfaces include a user interface based on a magnetic force model.

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.14/738,768 entitled INTUITIVE INTERFACES FOR REAL-TIME COLLABORATIVEINTELLIGENCE, filed Jun. 12, 2015, which in turns claims the benefit ofU.S. Provisional Application No. 62/012,403 entitled INTUITIVE INTERFACEFOR REAL-TIME COLLABORATIVE CONTROL, filed Jun. 15, 2014, both of whichare incorporated in their entirety herein by reference.

This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No.14/668,970 entitled METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR REAL-TIME CLOSED-LOOPCOLLABORATIVE INTELLIGENCE, filed Mar. 25, 2015, which in turns claimsthe benefit of U.S. Provisional Application 61/970,885 entitled METHODAND SYSTEM FOR ENABLING A GROUPWISE COLLABORATIVE CONSCIOUSNESS, filedMar. 26, 2014, both of which are incorporated in their entirety hereinby reference.

This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No.14/708,038 entitled MULTI-GROUP METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR REAL-TIMEMULTI-TIER COLLABORATIVE INTELLIGENCE, filed May 8, 2015, which in turnsclaims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application 61/991,505 entitledMETHOD AND SYSTEM FOR MULTI-TIER COLLABORATIVE INTELLIGENCE, filed May10, 2014, both of which are incorporated in their entirety herein byreference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to systems and methods for groupcollaboration, and more specifically to systems and methods forclosed-loop, dynamic group collaboration.

2. Discussion of the Related Art

Portable computing devices, such as cell phones, personal digitalassistants, and portable media players have become popular personaldevices due to their highly portable nature, their ability to provideaccessibility to a large library of stored media files, theirinterconnectivity with existing computer networks, and their ability topass information to other portable computing devices and/or tocentralized servers through phone networks, wireless networks and/orthrough local spontaneous networks such as Bluetooth® networks. Many ofthese devices also provide the ability to store and display media, suchas songs, videos, podcasts, ebooks, maps, and other related contentand/or programming. Many of these devices are also used as navigationtools, including GPS functionality. Many of these devices are also usedas personal communication devices, enabling phone, text, picture, andvideo communication with other similar portable devices. Many of thesedevices include touch screens, tilt interfaces, voice recognition, andother modern user input modes. As a result, the general social trendwithin industrial societies is that every person does now or soon willmaintain at least one such multi-purpose electronic device upon theirperson at most times, especially when out and about.

While such devices allow accessing information and person to personcommunication, they do not provide any unique tools and infrastructurethat specifically enable groups of electronically networked individualsto have a real-time group-wise experience that evokes the group'scollaborative intent and intelligence (Collaborative Consciousness).Hence, there is a substantial need to provide tools and methods by whichgroups of individuals, each having a portable computing device upontheir person, to more easily contribute their personal will/intent to anemerging collaborative consciousness, allowing the group to collectivelyanswer questions or otherwise express their groupwise will in real-time.Furthermore, there is a need to provide tools and methods that enablegroups of users to be informed of the group-wise will that is emergingin real-time. The present invention, as described herein, addressesthese and other deficiencies present in the art.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Several embodiments of the invention advantageously address the needsabove as well as other needs by providing a display interface displayedby a collaborative software application running on a computing device ofa real-time collaborative control system, the display interfacecomprising: a target board including a plurality of input choicesarranged on the target board; a pointer, wherein a location of thepointer on the target board is updated by the collaborative softwareapplication; wherein the collaborative software application isconfigured to repeatedly perform the steps of: receiving user input froma user of the computing device, the user input indicating a user intentfor selecting one of the input choices; sending the user input to acentral collaboration server communicatively coupled to the computingdevice; receiving an updated coordinate location of the pointer on thetarget board from the central collaboration server; and displaying theupdated coordinate location of the pointer on the target board.

In another embodiment, the invention can be characterized as a graphicalpointer interface for a display interface of a computing device,comprising: a collaborative application running on the computing deviceand configured to receive user input via the display interface andupdate the display interface; a pointer having a center and displayed onthe display interface, whereby a coordinate location of the pointer isrepeatedly updated by the application; and a user input icon displayedon the display interface and configured to receive user input indicatinga magnitude and a direction of movement of the pointer.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other aspects, features and advantages of severalembodiments of the present invention will be more apparent from thefollowing more particular description thereof, presented in conjunctionwith the following drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary real-time collaborativesystem.

FIG. 2 comprises an exemplary display interface of a computing device ofthe collaborative system in accordance with one embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 3 comprises the display interface of FIG. 2 illustrating a movingpointer.

FIG. 4 comprises an exemplary session log display interface of thecomputing device of the collaborative system in accordance with anotherembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 comprises an exemplary yes/no display interface of the computingdevice of the collaborative system in accordance with another embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 6 comprises an exemplary “rate it” display interface of thecomputing device of the collaborative system in accordance with anotherembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 comprises an exemplary “spell it” display interface of thecomputing device of the collaborative system in accordance with anotherembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 comprises an exemplary custom display interface of the computingdevice of the collaborative system in accordance with another embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 9 comprises an exemplary graphical magnet pointer of the displayinterface in accordance with another embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 10 comprises the exemplary graphical magnet pointer with a magneticon in a first position.

FIG. 11 comprises the exemplary graphical magnet pointer interface withthe magnet icon in a second position.

FIG. 12 comprises the exemplary graphical magnet pointer with the magneticon in a third position.

FIG. 13 comprises the exemplary graphical arrow pointer of the displayinterface with an arrow icon in a first position.

FIG. 14 comprises the exemplary graphical arrow pointer with the arrowicon in a second position.

FIG. 15 comprises the exemplary graphical arrow pointer with the arrowicon in a third position.

Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding componentsthroughout the several views of the drawings. Skilled artisans willappreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicityand clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example,the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggeratedrelative to other elements to help to improve understanding of variousembodiments of the present invention. Also, common but well-understoodelements that are useful or necessary in a commercially feasibleembodiment are often not depicted in order to facilitate a lessobstructed view of these various embodiments of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, but ismade merely for the purpose of describing the general principles ofexemplary embodiments. The scope of the invention should be determinedwith reference to the claims.

Reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment,” “anembodiment,” or similar language means that a particular feature,structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodimentis included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Thus,appearances of the phrases “in one embodiment,” “in an embodiment,” andsimilar language throughout this specification may, but do notnecessarily, all refer to the same embodiment.

Furthermore, the described features, structures, or characteristics ofthe invention may be combined in any suitable manner in one or moreembodiments. In the following description, numerous specific details areprovided, such as examples of programming, software modules, userselections, network transactions, database queries, database structures,hardware modules, hardware circuits, hardware chips, etc., to provide athorough understanding of embodiments of the invention. One skilled inthe relevant art will recognize, however, that the invention can bepracticed without one or more of the specific details, or with othermethods, components, materials, and so forth. In other instances,well-known structures, materials, or operations are not shown ordescribed in detail to avoid obscuring aspects of the invention.

As referred to in this specification, “media items” refers to video,audio, streaming and any combination thereof. In addition, the audiosubsystem is envisioned to optionally include features such as graphicequalization, volume, balance, fading, base and treble controls,surround sound emulation, and noise reduction. One skilled in therelevant art will appreciate that the above cited list of file formatsis not intended to be all inclusive.

Real-time occurrences as referenced herein are those that aresubstantially current within the context of human perception andreaction.

As described in related patent application Ser. Nos. 14/668,970 and14/708,038, the massive connectivity provided by the Internet is used tocreate a real-time closed-loop collaborative consciousness (or emergentgroup-wise intelligence) by collecting real-time input from largenumbers of people through a novel user interface and processing thecollected input from that large number of users into a singular groupintent that can answer questions or otherwise take actions or conveywill in real-time. The methods use intervening software and hardware tomoderate the process, closing the loop around the disparate input fromeach of the many individual participants and the singular output of thegroup. In one embodiment, each individual user (“participant”) engagesthe user interface on a portable computing device 104, conveying his orher individual real-time will in response to a prompt such as atextually displayed (or audibly displayed) question as well as inresponse to real-time feedback provided to the user of the group'semerging real-time intent. This closes the loop around each user, for heis conveying individual intent while also reacting to the group'semerging intent. Thus each user must be able to see not only the promptthat begins a session, but the real-time group intent as it is forming.For example, if the intent is being conveyed as words, the user will seethose words form, letter by letter. If the intent is being conveyed as adirection, the user sees the direction form, degree by degree. If theintent is being conveyed as a choice among objects, the user sees agraphical pointer 210 get closer and closer to a particular chosenobject. Thus, the user is seeing the group's will emerge before hiseyes, reacting to that will in real-time, and thus contributing to it.This closes the loop, not just around one user, but around all users whohave a similar experience on their own individual computing device 104.While the embodiments described generally refer to portable computingdevices, it will be understood that non-portable computing devices, suchas desktop computers, may also be used.

A collaboration system has been developed that allows a group of usersto collaboratively control the graphical pointer 210 in order tocollaboratively answer questions or otherwise respond to prompts.

Referring first to FIG. 1, a schematic diagram of an exemplarycollaboration system 100 is shown. Shown are a Central CollaborationServer (CCS) 102, the plurality of portable computing devices 104, and aplurality of exchanges of data with the Central Collaboration Server106.

Embodiments of the plurality of portable computing devices 104 and theinteraction of the computing devices 104 with the system 100 arepreviously disclosed in the related patent applications.

The collaboration system 100 comprises a Central Collaboration Server(CCS) 102 that is in communication with the plurality of portablecomputing devices 104, each portable computing device 104 running theCollaborative Intent Application (CIA), such that the plurality ofindividual users, each user interacting with one of the plurality ofcomputing devices 104, can provide user input representing a user intent(i.e. the will of the user). The plurality of user inputs is numericallycombined to result in a group intent, thus enabling collaborativecontrol of the pointer 210 (or other graphical representation of thegroup intent) that is manipulated by the group intent to select a targetfrom a group of elements (i.e. input choices) and thereby formcollaborative responses. The portable computing devices 104 are incommunication with the CCS 102 as shown by the data exchanges 106. Insome embodiments, such as a multi-tier architecture, the portablecomputing devices 104 may communicate with each other. The CCS 102includes software and additional elements as necessary to perform therequired functions. In this application, it will be understood that theterm “CCS” may be used to refer to the software of the CCS 102 or otherelements of the CCS 102 that are performing the given function.

As disclosed in the related patent applications, in one embodiment eachuser views a target area 206 as shown below (also referred to as atarget board) on a display of his portable computing device 104. Displayof the target area 206 is enabled by the CIA of the device 104. In someembodiments the target area 206 comprises the plurality of input choices(e.g. letters, numbers, words, etc.) that can be selected to form aresponse to a posed query.

In another embodiment, also displayed on the target area 206 is thegraphical pointer 210 that selectively moves in relation to the inputchoices displayed on the target area 206, said motion executed inresponse to the group intent input of the plurality of users. Bycollaboratively moving the pointer 210, said plurality of users isenabled to sequentially select targets from the input choices 208 of thetarget area 206 and thereby produce the collaborative response to theposed query or prompt. In some embodiments, the selection is made whenthe pointer 210 is positioned on or near the input choice 208 for morethan a threshold amount of time. In some embodiments, the pointer 210 isdetermined to be on or near the input choice 208 if it is within athreshold proximity of the input choice 208. When the target is selectedit is added to the emerging answer.

More specifically, embodiments of the current system 100 enable each ofthe plurality of users to view on their own portable computing device104, the graphical pointer 210 and the target area 206, and enable eachof said users to convey the user intent as to the desired direction (andoptionally magnitude) of motion the user wants the pointer 210 to moveso as to select one of a plurality of input choices 208 displayed on thetarget area 206.

The user input is typically represented as a user intent vector,including both a direction and magnitude of the user input. The userintent vector can be input by the user, for example, by tilting his orher computing device 104 in the desired direction. In other embodimentsthe user intent vector is input by swiping on a touchscreen. The userintent vector is communicated by the CIA running on the user's portablecomputing device 104, to the Central Collaboration Server (CCS) 102.

The CCS 102 receives the user intent vectors from the plurality ofusers, and then derives a group intent vector that represents thecollective will of the group at that time.

The group intent vector is then used to compute an updated location ofthe pointer 210 with respect to the target area 206 and input choices208, the updated location reflecting the collective will of the group.

The updated pointer location is then sent to each of the plurality ofcomputing devices 104 over the network and is used by the CIA softwarerunning on said computing devices 104 to update the displayed locationof the pointer 210. The result is that each of the plurality of userscan watch the pointer 210 move, not based on their own individual input,but based on the overall collective intent of the group.

As shown in FIG. 1, the system 100 comprises a Central CollaborationServer 102 (“CCS”) that's in communication with a plurality computingdevices 104, each of said computing devices 104 running a CollaborativeIntent Application (“CIA”). The system 100 is designed to enable aplurality of users, each engaging an interface of one of said computingdevices 104, to jointly control the single graphical pointer 210 throughreal-time group-wise collaboration. The graphical pointer 210 (alsoreferred to as a puck) is displayed to each user by the CIA applicationrunning on his or computing device 104, as coordinated by data receivedfrom the CCS 102 over a communication link. Each of the computingdevices 104 comprises one or more processors capable of running the CIAroutines and displaying a representation of the pointer 210 along with aplurality of other graphics. The computing device 104 could be, forexample, a personal computer running a CIA application or a smart phoneor tablet running a CIA app. The CIA software can be a stand-aloneexecutable or be code that executes inside a web-browser or other shell.

The CIA software running on each computing device 104 is configured todisplay a graphical user interface (also referred to as a displayinterface or a decoupled control interface) that includes at least onegraphical pointer 210 and a plurality of input choices 208. In someembodiments, the graphical pointer 210 is configured to look like a“puck” with a central viewing area that is partially transparent. Whenthe pointer 210 is positioned over one of the input choices 208 suchthat a targeted input choice is substantially within the viewing areafor more than a threshold amount of time, that input choice 208 isselected.

Referring next to FIGS. 2 and 3, an exemplary display interface 200 isshown in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. Shownare a prompt bar 202, a response bar 204, the target area 206, theplurality of input choices 208, a pointer 210, an information bar 212, anumber of users indication 214, a synchronicity indication 216, a userscore indication 218, a rank indication 220, and a response timer 222.

The display interface 200 of FIG. 2 is shown with the moving pointer 210at a single instance in time, whereas the display interface 200 of FIG.3 represents a period of time over which the pointer 210 is moved acrossthe target area 206 in response to the group intent. Also shown in FIG.3 are a first pointer position 300, a plurality of intermediate pointerpositions 302, and a target selection position 304.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the target area 206 is a horizontalrectangular shape, taking up most of the screen area. The narrowhorizontal rectangular-shaped prompt bar 202 extends the width of thedisplay interface 200 above the target area 206, and the narrowhorizontal rectangular-shaped response bar 204 extends the width of thedisplay interface 200 below the target area 206. The information bar 212is a narrow vertical rectangular shape, located to the left of thetarget area 206 and between the prompt bar 202 above and the responsebar 204 below. It will be appreciated that many other graphicalconfigurations of the various display interface areas are possible.

The display interface 200 of FIGS. 2 and 3 includes the main target area206, similar that shown in the target board embodiments of the relatedapplications. The target area 206 includes the plurality of inputchoices 208, shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 as alphanumeric characters, as wellas other input choices 208 such as punctuation characters, an arrowgraphic (indicating deletion of a response character), and word inputchoices (e.g. yes, no, maybe and done). Other inputs choices 208 mayalso be used, for example, numerical choices on a number line. Thetarget area 206 also includes the moving pointer 210, which is thevisual indicator of the group intent, and moves across the target area206 in response to the group intents derived from the user inputs.

As disclosed in related applications, if the pointer 210 is positionedover one input choice 208 for more than a threshold amount of time, thatinput choice 208 is selected. The same is true for each of the targetwords (yes, no, maybe). In addition, a “done” target is included, whichwhen selected, indicates that the response being formed by selectingtargets is now complete.

The system 100 is configured such that groups of users are enabled tocollaboratively control the pointer 210 in response to prompts (forexample, questions) that are posed to the group. In the example of FIGS.2 and 3, the prompts appear in the prompt bar 202 of the displayinterface 200, for example, the prompt, “Who was the smartest personsever to live?” as shown in FIG. 3. A prompt may appear, for example,when one of the plurality of users types in a question, entering itwithin the prompt bar 202 on the display interface of their computingdevice 104. The user presses enter and the question then appears in theprompt bar 202 of all the users, becoming the group prompt. The usersthen collaboratively control the pointer 210 to answer the question orotherwise respond to the prompt. As the group intent selects inputchoices 208, which are then displayed as part of the response, theanswer appears in the response bar 204 on the display interfaces of theplurality of users, thus allowing all to see the result. The system 100in one embodiment can be configured to only allow one question to beasked at a time, and only allow certain users to ask questions atcertain times. This may be achieved by displaying a highlight on theanswer bar of users who are currently enabled to ask questions. When acurrent question is active, the answer bars are not highlighted, fornobody can ask a question until the current question is answered.

In some embodiments a time limit is moderated by the CIA/CCS softwaresuch that the users are given a limited amount of time to answer a posedquestion. In such embodiments, a timer (either numerical or graphical)may be displayed to the users on the display interface indicating howmuch time is left to answer the given question or prompt. Forembodiments where users may be selecting a sequence of letters or wordsto compose the response, the time limit may be associated with eachinput choice target selection, thus giving the users a specified timelimit for collaboratively making each target selection in the sequence.A second timer may be associated with the collaborative formulation ofthe complete response. In this way, the system 100 can employ a firsttargeting timer that limits the time allowed for targeting each inputchoice 208, and the second response timer that limits the amount of timeallowed for the complete response.

The exemplary response timer 222 is shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 within theinformation bar 212. Also shown within the information bar 212 portionof the user interface is the number of users indication 214, whichdisplays the current number of collaborating users of the system 100(i.e. current user count). Also shown within the information bar 212 isthe user score indication 218, showing a user score rating for theparticular user who is engaging the computing device 104 that is runningthis instance of the CIA software. Thus each user is shown his ownindividual score, i.e. the user score is unique to each user.

Also displayed in the information bar 212 is the synchronicityindication 216 including a synchronicity value for that individual user,the value indicating how collaborative the user is being with respect toother users (as previously described in the related application Ser.Nos. 14/668,970 and 14/708,038).

In addition, each user can be assigned a rank value, the rank valuedisplayed in the rank indication 220 shown in the information bar 212,the rank value being an indication of standing of that user with respectto other users on one or more performance metrics (as disclosed in therelated applications) In some embodiments the performance metrics usedfor computing the rank value include the user score for each user andthe user synchronicity for each user. In some embodiments, the number ofquestions a user has participated in is also used in computing the rankvalue and/or score value.

Using the display interface combined with the means for user input, theplurality of users is enabled to collaboratively control the motion ofthe pointer 210 to select one or more targets from the input choices 208in response to prompts, thereby formulating an answer throughsynchronous real-time collaboration. As disclosed in the related patentapplications, the plurality of users, each interacting with one of theplurality of computing devices 104, provides user input, which isnumerically combined to enable collaborative control of the pointer 210that is manipulated by group intents to select targets. As furtherdisclosed in the related patent applications, each user views the targetboard on the display interface of his own computing device 104, asdisplayed by the CIA application running on the device, the target boardcomprising at least the target area 206, the prompt bar 202, and theresponse bar 204.

As shown in FIG. 3, (which represents multiple time-steps over a periodof session time) the pointer 210 moves under collaborative control of aplurality of users, heading for a particular letter or number or word.The pointer 210 is moved by the group intent from the initial firstpointer position 300, through the intermediate pointer positions 302 andfinally to the target selection position 304, which, in the pointer 210embodiment shown, selects the input choice 208 surrounded by an innertarget area of the pointer 210. The exemplary target choice shown is theletter “A”. In one embodiment, the CCS 102 is configured to select thatinput choice 208 if the pointer 210 lands on it for more than athreshold amount of time. The target is then displayed in the responsebar 204, added to whatever letters may have already been selected forthis response. As shown in FIG. 3, the response bar 204 now includes thecharacter “A” as the first character.

After the target selection, the pointer location can be reset at acenter of the screen, and the process repeats, allowing the users toselect additional letters, numbers, words, etc., building the completeresponse. Once the response is complete, in some embodiments theresponse is shown on the session log display interface 400. In someembodiments, the users are shown a rating display interface for provinguser input regarding rating of the answer (i.e., expressing theirsatisfaction with it). In other embodiments, a Tweet® or other socialmedia update may be sent out by the CCS software that includes thequestion, answer and/or statistics or other information or data aboutthe session.

Referring next to FIG. 4, an exemplary session log display interface 400is shown. Shown are a display header 402, a plurality of log entries404, a plurality of session numbers 406, a plurality of session prompts408, a plurality of session responses 410, a plurality of user counts412, and a plurality of ratings 414.

The exemplary session log display interface 400 of FIG. 4 includes thedisplay header 402 located at the top of the display, describing thecontent of the session log display interface 400, in this example,“Questions & Answers”. The display interface 400 also includes theplurality of log entries 404, each log entry 404 including informationand/or statistics regarding a completed session. In the example shown,each session is represented by a line of text. Each line of textcomprising the log entry 404 includes for each session, in order, thesession number 406, the session prompt 408, the final response 410, theuser count number 412, and the rating value 414. It will be appreciatedthat any other data, information, and/or statistics regarding thesession could be included.

For example, the top log entry 404 includes the session number 406“00001”, indicating a first session. The session prompt 408 includes thetext “Q: “What is your favorite color?” The response, as indicated mythe session response 410, is “A: “Red”. The user count 412 for thissession is “244”, indicating that 244 users participated in thatsession. The rating 414 given to the response is 48%.

The example session log display interface 400 can be a display interfacegenerated by the local CIA on each computing device 104. Alternatively,the session log display interface 400 may be a web page that isaccessible to users from around the world. The session log displayinterface 400 lists the questions and answers from previous sessions, sousers can browse and see the responses for the various session. This canbe a simple list, as shown in FIG. 4, and include some data about eachquestion and answer, for example how many users participated, and therating the users gave it. In some embodiments, the system is configuredto allow users to leave comments related to each question and answer,for example to agree with or debate against the answer generated by thecollaborative intelligence.

The answers can be ordered sequentially (by time and date of thesession). In some versions, the answers can be ordered by rating, thusletting people easily browse the highly rated answers. In some versions,all registered users can add to the ratings by browsing the page, notjust the users who participated in that particular question/answersession. The rating in some embodiment can be a “thumbs up” indication.

In this way, the session log display interface 400 is a source ofentertaining information for users, allowing them to see the historicalresponses produced by the group-wise collaborative intelligence. In manyembodiments, the users who can access the session log display interface400 and view the content are not limited to those who collaborativelyproduced answers to questions, thereby allowing a wider pool of users toenjoy the output from the collaborative sessions. In addition,embodiments can be configured in which many “collaboration rooms” withdifferent groups of users operating in parallel, each group includingusers who control the pointer 210 for that group and engage incollaborative decision making. With many groups, each generating theirown questions and producing their own collaborative responses, thesession log display interface 400 can be configured to post the outputfrom a plurality of groups in a centralized place. This allows a widerange of users to see the collaborative thinking that emerged from theplurality of groups in a fast and easy way. In such embodiments, thesession log display interface 400 can additionally display additionaldata along with each question/answer pair, for example a name of thespecific “collaboration room” from which it emerged, a number of userswho contributed to the answer, an elapsed time used to collaborativelygenerate the answer, and one or more measures of synchronicity among thegroup who produced that answer while producing that answer.

The session log display interface 400 may additionally be configured toallow users who view the session log display interface 400 to rateanswers shown on the displayed session log display interface 400 throughsimple asynchronous polling methods. In this way, the system 100 canemploy a combination of the novel synchronous collaboration to generateanswers along with more traditional asynchronous rating/polling to letusers rate, rank, or otherwise subjectively quantify the quality of theanswers.

As described above and in the related applications, the CIA and CCSsoftware are configured to allow users to form collaborative groupsenabled to answer the prompt collaboratively through the group-wise,real-time synchronous control method. In some embodiments the CIA/CCSsystem 100 is enabled to automatically ask questions to the group,selecting from a store of predefined questions. This is useful ingetting the group started, or when no member of the group poses aquestion within a certain time limit. Conversely, in many situations theusers are eager to ask questions and because only one can be answered ata time (in a particular collaboration room), there can be a backlog ofquestions and/or competition to get questions asked. Thus because theremay be many collaborating users who may wish to ask a question at anygiven time, the system 100 can be configured to store pending questionsin a question queue. This may be configured as a displayed list ofquestions, ordered, for example, such that the question at the top isanswered next and proceeding downward. In this way, users can pose thequestion and see where it sits on the list over time, as previouslyasked questions get answered. This has the benefit of encouraging usersto participate for long periods, waiting for their question to reach thetop of the queue, at which point it becomes the active question for thegroup, an indication of such sent to all the users.

For embodiments that support question queuing functionality, the system100 can also be configured to order the questions based on factors otherthan the order in which the questions were submitted. For example, in apreferred embodiment, the system 100 can be configured to givequestion-asking priority to users who have earned a high score orachieved high ranking during collaborative control sessions, theirquestions boosted up the queue based on their score. As described in therelated patent applications, such scores and/or rankings are generallybased on how collaborative the user has been during prior collaborativesessions.

In many instances, the user may pose a bad question to the group,because the question is not appropriate or not coherent or simply notinteresting to the other users of the group. To address such situations,the system 100 can be configured to allow the group-wise intelligence toselect a “bad questions” response to the prompt. This is a spatiallyarranged element that can be selected by the pointer 210, undergroup-wise control, and when selected indicates to the system 100 thatthe group does not want to answer the question. The question is thenskipped, so another question can be asked (or pulled off the questionqueue).

This feature encourages users to ask quality questions. The user knowsthat if he does not ask a quality question, then the group-wiseintelligence may immediately decide to deem it a “bad question” andremove it.

To further encourage users to ask quality questions, the system 100 canalso be configured to subtract points from users who ask questions thatare deemed “bad questions” by the group. In this way, there is a penaltyassociated with asking the bad question. Further, if the user's score isused by the system 100 to award the right to ask questions, a user whorepeatedly asks bad questions and loses points, will get fewer and feweropportunities to ask additional questions. This enables thecollaborative intelligence system 100 to “silence” individual users whoare not asking quality questions (or who are deliberately beingdisruptive).

As was described above with respect FIGS. 2 and 3, some embodiments ofthe present invention employ the single target area 206 that providesthe group of users with the set of input choices 208 through which theycan collaboratively craft the response, the choices 208 optionallyincluding simple words (e.g. yes, no, maybe) as well as letters,numbers, and/or punctuation. This target area 206 is highly flexible,for it allows an infinite variety of questions to be answered, but theprocess of spelling out answers, letter by letter, can be slow. In manysituations, the quickest and most satisfying way to ask questions andarrive at answers is to provide users with a set of choices that arewell fitted for the question that was asked.

To create a flexible system that enables this in a clean, intuitive, andeasily adjustable way, a novel framework has been devised that employs aplurality of selectable target areas 206, each of said target areas 206having a different set of input choices that can be collaborativelyselected from. In some embodiments the user who asks the question canalso indicate which of the selectable target areas 206 should be used toanswer the question. In some embodiments, the collaborative group itselfis given the ability to select among the selectable target areas 206,thus taking control not just of the selected answer but the pallet ofpossible answers.

In many preferred embodiments, both methods are employed such that theuser who asks the question can optionally specify which selectabletarget area 206 to use to answer the question, while at the same timethe group can collaboratively override the recommendation and choose adifferent selectable target area 206.

Referring next to FIG. 5, an exemplary display interface 500 including ayes/no target area 508 is shown. Shown are a user communication area502, a message area 504, the response bar 204, the prompt bar 202, anask light icon 506, the yes/no target area 508, a plurality of yes/noinput choices 510, the information bar 212, the pointer 210, a boardmenu area 512, and a user log 514.

FIG. 5 shows one embodiment of the collaborative display interface. Themain elements are generally similar to those previously shown in FIGS. 2and 3: the target area 508 (in this example the yes/no target area 508),the prompt bar 202, the response bar 204, and the information bar 212.The yes/no target area 508 includes the plurality of yes/no inputchoices 510 and the pointer 210.

Shown in FIG. 5 is one embodiment of a working version of a displayinterface of the real-time synchronous collaborative system 100disclosed herein, the system 100 in this embodiment employing CIAsoftware that runs in the internet browser of the computing device 104.Each instance of the CIA code establishes real-time communication withthe central collaboration server 102 running the CCS software whichreceives user input from the plurality of users and updates the locationof the pointer 210 accordingly. The CIA software first shows on thedisplay interface a login screen where users sign in with a user nameand a password. New users are given the ability to create new user namesand passwords, and/or users may be given the ability to sign using aFacebook® ID, a Google+™ ID, or other online ID that has been associatedwith the collaborative system 100. In this way, users provide a uniquename that identifies them. The CCS software then maintains data such asa score value, for each unique user.

The collaboration display interface, examples of which are shown inFIGS. 3, 4, and 5-8, are displayed to each user after the user logs in.The display interface in some embodiments includes the user log 514 inthe information bar 212 on the left side of the display interface. Theuser log 514 lists the user name of the unique users who are currentlyparticipating in the current collaborative session. The current sessioncould include 20 users who all chose to enter the same “collaborationroom” as previously described. The user log 514 as shown in the displayinterface 500 of FIG. 5 below only lists a single name “Louis” becauseat this moment in time, the user “Louis” is the only user to join. Asother users join, their names would also appear in the user log 514. Inaddition, in this embodiment the prompt bar 202 includes the messagearea 504, where users can type messages that are seen by other users whoare logged into the same session. Additionally, messages can bedisplayed to the user by the system 100. At the moment in time shown,user “Louis” just joined, so the message bar displays a message from thesystem 100: “<UNUM says>Welcome Louis, Please Participate.” Similarmessages are displayed to other users as they join.

Once logged into the server 102, in some embodiments the user can joinone of the plurality of collaboration rooms, each collaboration roombeing the separately hosted group of users engaged in the collaborativeexperience. For example, the server 102 might allow the user to join oneof 200 collaborations rooms, each of said rooms supporting up to 30users who can chat, ask questions, and collaboratively answer questionsamong them. In some embodiments, the rooms are filled in a first-come,first-served manner, new rooms being created when a current room isfilled with the maximum number of users. In some embodiments, rooms canbe assigned a theme, which is a guideline for the topic to be debated(with questions and answers). For example, some collaboration rooms canbe general purpose, some can be sports-related, some can bemedia-related, some can be finance-related, some can be political, somecan be issue-related, etc. In some embodiments, collaboration rooms canbe public or private. A public room can be filled with strangers whojoin in at will. A private room can be filled by invitation. In someembodiments, the user can invite his or her Facebook: friends forparticipation in a custom room. Such a room is ideal for a group offriends asking personal questions. In some embodiments, there is also asingle large room that can support hundreds, or thousands, or evenmillions of users, which is thereby a much larger experience than thesmall rooms that support 30 users. This large room creates a genuineglobal collective intelligence and can be assigned a unique name, forexample “UNUM” (Unum is Latin for “the one”).

In some embodiments, themed rooms can be designed with themed targetareas that are specific to the topic of discussion in the room. Forexample, a finance related room could employ a specialized target area206 that includes input choices 208 such as “buy”, “sell”, “hold”, and“short”.

In some embodiments, the CCS 102 stores historical values related toeach registered user, said historical values including the number ofpast sessions that the user participated in, user scores and/orsynchronicity values for those sessions, and/or other pieces of datathat indicate the user's skill in collaborating. In some suchembodiments, certain collaboration rooms are restricted only for userswho have achieved scores or other metrics that surpass a definedthreshold. In this way, some rooms can be filled by the CCS 102 withnovice collaborators while other rooms can be filled with experiencedcollaborators. In some embodiments, users can name the collaborationroom, which can also be used as the name of the collaborativeintelligence that emerges from that room. In some such embodiments,collaboration rooms of one name can compete with collaboration rooms ofanother name.

By allowing collaboration rooms to be populated by unique groups ofusers, each room uniquely named, the system 100 can be configured toallow a first collaboration room to ask a question that is directed at asecond collaboration room. That second collaboration room can thenanswer the question as a group. In this way, two collaboration rooms canhold a conversation and/or debate. This allows one collectiveintelligence to communicate with and/or debate against anothercollective intelligence.

In some embodiments, collaboration rooms can be populated by selectingusers based in part on personal profile data that is stored uponregistration. For example, one collaboration room could be populated byusers who self-identify as Democrat. Similarly, one collaboration roomcan be populated by users who self-identify as Republican. These twocollaboration rooms can then be enabled through moderation by the CCS102 to send questions and/or answers to each other, using the methodsdisclosed herein. In this way, a “Democratic Collaborative Intelligence”emerging from one collaboration room can hold a conversation with and/orhold a debate against, a “Republican Collaborative Intelligence”emerging from another collaboration room. Similarly, a room filled withRaiders fans can be enabled to hold a sports related conversation with,or hold a sports related debate against a room filled with 49er fans.Similarly a room filled with Stanford alumni can be enabled to hold aconversation with or engage in a debate against a room filled withHarvard alumni. In this way, the present invention allows for groups oflikeminded people to pool their intelligence and converse with (and/orargue against) groups of other people, thereby creating an entirely newform of human communication.

As soon as two or more users are present in the collaboration room (i.e.have joined the current session), users would have the ability to chatwith each other by typing a message in the user communication area 502at the top of the prompt bar 202. Any message typed in will be sent toall other users, with an indicator of who said it. This allows groups ofpeople to chat using standard functionality. In addition, users can askquestions, to the whole group, that are intended to be answeredcollaboratively. The software indicates a time period when the questioncan be asked by lighting up the ask light icon 506 that is positionednear the message bar. If the ask light icon 506 is shown as lit, theuser can enter the question into the user communication area 502, thenclick the ask light icon 506, and the question is sent to all users. Thequestion appears in the prompt bar 202. In the embodiment shown in FIG.5, the prompt bar 202 includes the text “Q:”, indicating that whateverfollows is the session's question.

Once the question (i.e. prompt) appears in the prompt bar 202 for allusers of the group, the users are instructed collaboratively control toanswer the question, providing user input trying to move the pointer 210towards one of the provided input choices. As shown in FIG. 5, theyes/no target area 508 includes six possible yes/no input choices 510spatially arranged such that each yes/no input choice 510 isapproximately equidistant from a starting location of the pointer 210(in this embodiment, the starting location is centered on the yes/notarget area 508). This equidistant configuration is novel in that ithelps ensure a relatively equal chance that any of the input choiceswill be selected, unbiased by the layout so that the will of the groupis solely what causes a particular answer to emerge collaboratively.

In the yes/no target area 508 shown in FIG. 5, the yes/no input choices510 include “yes”, “no”, “maybe”, “probably”, “doubtful” and “badquestion”. This type of board is highly effective for yes/no-typequestions.

Of course, not all questions are yes/no in nature, and thus the presentinvention provides for other types of target areas 206 that areselectable by the user who asked the question and/or by the groupwisecontrol of the pointer 210. In the embodiment of FIG. 5, indications ofthese other available target areas 206 are included in the board menuarea 512 that is displayed in the bottom half of the left-handinformation bar 212. As shown in FIG. 5, the different selectable targetareas 206 in the menu include “yes/no”, “agree/disagree”, “rate it”,“custom” and “spell it”. These are given as examples, but it should beunderstood that a wide variety of other target areas 206 could beprovided. For example, for sports questions a “win/lose” target areacould be provided. For finance questions a “buy/sell” target area couldbe provided. For romance questions, a “love/hate” target area could beprovided. It should be noted that the target area 206 can display asmall set of discrete choices, such as the hexagon of six choices shownin FIG. 5, or the target area 206 can display a range of continuouschoices, for example to enable a range of rating values from 0% to 100%.For simplicity, this application will describe only the target areatypes disclosed in FIG. 5.

If a yes/no-type question is asked to the group using the displayinterface 500 shown in FIG. 5, the users might collaborate to move thepointer 210 to land on the yes/no input choice 510 “doubtful”. If so,the word “doubtful” appears in the response bar 204 (in this embodimentincluded as part of the top prompt bar 202). In the embodiment shown,the response bar 204 includes the text “A:”, indicating that whateverfollows is the session's answer. In addition, “<UNUM says> doubtful”appears in the message area 504 for all users.

In one embodiment of the present invention, selection by the user of thespecific target area 206 employs simple command codes added to the endof the question. For example, the user could type in the question “Whatdo you think of the Rolling Stones?” and then add the command code“/rate” to the end of the string. This command code would be previouslyset in the CCS software to indicate that the “rate it” target areashould be used. Alternatively, target area selection buttons could beprovided on the display interface 500 for the user to select.

Referring next to FIG. 6 an exemplary display interface 600 including a“rate it” target area 602 is shown. Shown are the user communicationarea 502, the message area 504, the response bar 204, the prompt bar202, the ask light icon 506, the “rate it” target area 602, a pluralityof “rate it” input choices 604, the information bar 212, the pointer210, the board menu area 512, and the user log 514.

As shown in FIG. 6, once the user has typed in the question andindicated the desire to use the “rate it” target area 602 as thespatially arranged field of possible answers, the “rate it” target area602 appears on his display interface 600 as well as on displayinterfaces of all the collaborating users. In addition, the questionappears in the prompt bar 202. As shown, the words “What do you think ofthe Rolling Stones?” appears in the prompt bar 202. Also, the user'sfull question, with command code, appears in the message area 504. Thisallows all users to see what the user typed to enter the question,instructing everyone about the proper use of command codes.

Now the users can answer the question by collaboratively moving thepointer 210 to one of the spatially arranged “rate it” input choices604. In one example, the pointer 210 moves to a “5 stars” input choice604 and that answer is broadcast to all the users, as well as, in someembodiments, added to the session log. The answer could optionally beTweeted out by the software. It should be noted that this rating is notthe average of a number of asynchronous ratings as would be achieved bya simple poll, but is a jointly derived rating that happens through aphysical negotiation of the users, arriving at a consensus not anaverage. This consensus is a genuine group opinion and not merely theaverage of a set of individual opinions, thus achieving a truecollaborative intelligence.

In this way, questions can be asked that are associated with a group ofinput choices that are spatially arranged. A sports question could haveanswers “win”, “lose”, “tie”, “too close to call”, “blow out”, forexample. In some embodiments, as previously described, the “badquestion” input choice may be included so users can collaborativelyreject bad questions.

Referring next to FIG. 7, an exemplary display interface 700 including a“spell it” target area 702 is shown. Shown are the user communicationarea 502, the message area 504, the response bar 204, the prompt bar202, the ask light icon 506, the “spell it” target area 702, a pluralityof “spell it” input choices 704, the information bar 212, the pointer210, the board menu area 512, and the user log 514.

In yet other embodiments, the system 100 employs the “spell it” targetarea 602 including the “spell it” input choices 604 that can beselectively chosen, either by the user who asks the question, or by thegroup (for example, by the group collaboratively moving the pointer 210over the spell it option in the board menu area 512).

As shown in FIG. 7, one user has asked the question “Who is the smartestperson ever to live?” (as shown in the prompt bar 202) and has indicatedthat the group should answer with the “spell it” target area 602, thisindication in one embodiment provided by the command code “/spell” addedto the end of the question, as shown in the message area 504.

The “spell it” target area 602 in one embodiment includes punctuation aswell as space and backspace, allowing users to write multiple words, orerase letters through collaborative action. The “spell it” target area602 includes a “done” input choice so the group can collaborativelydecide when the sequence of chosen letters is complete.

Referring next to FIG. 8 an exemplary display interface 800 including anexemplary custom target area 802 is shown. Shown are the usercommunication area 502, the message area 504, the response bar 204, theprompt bar 202, the ask light icon 506, the exemplary custom target area802, a plurality of “rate it” input choices 804, the information bar212, the pointer 210, a board menu area 512, and a user log 514.

In some cases the question might be posed by one user that does not fitany of the predefined sets of input choices provided by any of theavailable choices of target areas 206, and yet the user does not want toleave the input choice selection open-ended, as with the “spell it”target area 702. To solve this problem, a novel solution has beenderived that allows users to quickly ask the question while easilyspecifying the custom set of input choices 804 to be spatially arrangedon the custom target area 802 for selection by the group. This is the“custom board” target area 802 as shown in FIG. 8

As shown in the exemplary display interface of FIG. 8, one user asks thequestion, “What is your favorite movie?” The user doesn't want the groupto answer using the “spell it” target area 702, but instead desires thedisplay of the plurality of custom input choices 804. To enable this, anovel command code methodology has been developed in which the user cantype the set of custom input choices 804 into the message area 504 alongwith the question. In one embodiment this is enabled through the use ofa simple command code (in one embodiment the “*” character) put beforeeach of the custom input choices 804. This code identifies that thewords that follow it comprise available choice in the custom set. In theparticular case of FIG. 8, the user typed in: “What is your favoritemovie? *Jaws *ET *Star Wars *Rocky *A.I.”, as indicated by the textshown in the message area 504.

The CIA software running on the user's local computer sends arepresentation of this text to the CCS 102. In response, the CCS 102sends the question portion of the text to the computing devices 104 ofeach participating user, for display in the prompt bar 202 on theirscreen. In addition, the CCS/CIA software crafts the custom target area802 that is displayed on the display interface 200 of each computingdevice 104, said custom target area 802 including the custom inputchoices 804 in a spatially arranged format. In the example of FIG. 8,the movie input choices—“Jaws”, “E.T.”, “Star Wars”, “Rocky”, and“A.I.”—are displayed to each of the users as part of the customconfigured hexagonal target area 802, each of the five movies at acorner of the hexagon, with the sixth corner being assigned the inputchoice “Bad Question”. In this way, users can ask highly targetedquestions that are unique, but bounded, giving the group a very specificset of answers to choose from. It's important to note that data sentfrom the central server 102 to each computing device 104 indicates bothcontent of the plurality of input choices 208 as well as spatialarrangement of each input choice 208 in the target area 206. In thisway, the displayed target area 206 is fully customizable, allowing forcoordinated control over which choices go where.

As described in detail in the aforementioned related patentapplications, the CIA/CCS software enables the group of users to eachimpart their own individual input so as to collaboratively control themotion of the graphical pointer 210, said pointer 210 moving undergroup-wise control to answer questions or otherwise respond to prompts.

In a preferred embodiment, a physically intuitive metaphor is employedsuch that the pointer 210 is assigned a simulated mass and a simulateddamping (friction) with respect to the target area 206. Each user istold that their personal user input acts to apply a simulated force uponthe group-wise pointer 210 by imparting a group force vector upon it,said group force vector based on the user intent vector described in therelated applications. The pointer 210 then moves in response to a vectorsum of the applied forces. It can be a simple sum (or average) in whicheach user input is counted equally, or it can be a weighted sum (oraverage) in which the input from some users has more impact than others.As described in the related applications, the weighting process can bebased on user scores earned during previous sessions.

Thus the intuitive conceptual model is provided to users wherein theplurality of user force vectors are applied to the pointer 210 basedupon input conveyed by each user into their individual computing device104. This is achieved by computing and imparting the group force vectorupon the pointer 210 that is the sum or average of the user input forcevectors. The computing and imparting is performed the CCS 102 whichcollects the real-time input from the users, computes the resultantvector, and applies it to a physics-based model controlling thegraphical movement of the displayed pointer 210. The physics-based modelconsiders a pointer mass, a environmental damping coefficient, and acurrent vector motion (velocity and acceleration) of the pointer 210,and determines an updated vector motion of the pointer 210 resultingfrom the current group force vector. Because the users are continuallyproviding user inputs, the group force vector is repeatedly calculated,the group force vector repeatedly applied, and the vector motion of thepointer 210 repeatedly updated. In some embodiments, this is performedat rates of at least 10 updates per second, but ideally 30 to 60 updatesper second. In some embodiments pointer motion is interpolated betweenupdates based on the physics model. Even when no forces are applied bythe users, the pointer 210 may maintain momentum and will continue tomove for a period of time before stopped by damping.

Providing the intuitive conceptual model for group-wise control of thesingle pointer 210 is helpful, but there is still a need for anintuitive graphical user interface that makes supports the model, makingit natural, intuitive, and fun. The challenge of the pointer interfaceis that unlike traditional user interfaces where a user's action has adirect and apparent impact on the object they are intending to control(e.g. the pointer 210), this collaborative system 100 is such that themotion of the pointer 210 is not based on the user's input but is basedon the group input. Because of this, the user may impart a desire forthe pointer 210 to move left at a given moment, but if the group intentis determined from the group of users as a desire for the pointer 210 tomove right, the pointer 210 will move right. This can be disconcertingto the user, for the user's input and the motion of the pointer 210 canbe significantly misaligned. In fact, users may even wonder if theiruser input is being considered by the system 100 at all if each usersees no direct evidence of their user input—each user sees only thepointer 210 moving in ways that appear to have no relation to theindividual user intent. This is especially true when large numbers ofusers collaborate, for one user's input may have a very smallcontribution to the overall group intent. Thus, a significant needexists for intuitive graphical user interface methodologies that allowthe individual user to see a result of his or her input, while alsomaking the overall physical metaphor as clear and simple and intuitiveas possible. More specifically, there is a substantial need to create anew type of user interface that intuitively links but substantiallydecouples the representation of each user's personal input from themotion of the collaborative controlled pointer 210. Some embodiments ofintuitive graphical user interface methodologies have been described inthe related patent applications.

Referring next to FIG. 9, a graphical representation of a graphicalmagnet pointer interface 900 is shown, in one embodiment of a intuitivegraphical user interface methodology. Shown are the pointer 210, apointer vertical axis 902, a magnet icon 904, a magnet axis 906, anangle 908, and a pointer center 910.

The graphical magnet pointer interface 900 is a methodology for userinput that supports a physically intuitive model for group-wise controlof the graphical pointer 210. It employs the magnet icon 904 that isprovided to each user for display on their personal computing device 104(as controlled by the instance of the CIA software running on the user'spersonal computing device 104). In the embodiment shown, the magnet icon904 is a “U” shaped magnet icon, but other types of magnet icons can beused, and/or other elements that graphically represent a physical pullforce. In this way, each user can see his own magnet on his own screen,said magnet icon 904 being directly responsive to the user inputprovided by said user. Because the control of the magnet icon 904 ishandled locally by the personal computing device 104, the graphicalmagnet pointer interface is highly responsive and not impacted bycommunication lag with the CCS 102, thus allowing each user to feel likehe has a high-bandwidth highly responsive link into the system 100. Theposition of the magnet icon 904 on the user's display interface 200 maybe controlled by a mouse coupled to the computing device 104 and used bythe user, with a conventional mouse arrow icon changing to the magneticon 904 when the mouse cursor nears the graphical pointer 210 that isalso displayed on the display interface 200. The magnet icon 904 isdisplayed at the location of the mouse arrow icon, but is configured inthe software to always point towards the center 910 of the circularpointer 210. Thus as the magnet icon 904 approaches the pointer 210, themagnet icon 904 appears to aim at the pointer center 910 as if themagnet icon 904 is magnetically attracted to the pointer 210.

In addition, the software controlling the magnet icon 904 may beconfigured to increase a size of the magnet icon 904 in size as themagnet icon 904 moves closer to the pointer 210, which would imply alarger magnetic force between the magnet icon 904 and the pointer 210.Thus, with a very simply graphical metaphor, the user understandswithout instruction that he can apply a virtual pull force on thepointer 210 (representing his user intent vector) that aims from thepointer center 910 to the location of the cursor (i.e. the magnet icon904) controlled by the mouse.

As shown in FIG. 9, the CIA software can be configured on each personalcomputing device 104 to display the graphical magnet icon 904 at thecursor location controlled by the user's mouse, trackpad, trackball,touchscreen, or other means for user input of the computing device 104.The magnet icon 904 is configured to appear only when the user's cursorlocation is within a threshold proximity of the group-controlled pointer210, for that means the user intends to convey user input regarding hispersonal intent as to which direction the pointer 210 should move. Themagnet icon 904 is configured to automatically point towards the pointercenter 910, as if magnetically attracted to it. This conveys anintuitive feeling to the user that by positioning the magnet icon 904near the pointer 210, he is applying the magnetic pull on the pointer210. The CIA software then sends the user intent vector to the CCS 102indicating the angle 908 of the magnetic pull. In the embodiment shownin FIG. 5, the longitudinal magnet axis 906 of the magnet icon 904 isthe axis of symmetry of the singly-symmetric magnet icon 904. The angleof direction is the clockwise angle 908 between the pointer verticalaxis 902 and the magnet axis 906. In the example shown in FIG. 9, theangle 908 is approximately 330 degrees.

In some embodiments, magnitude of the user input can be graphicallyconveyed by how close or far the user positions the magnet icon 904 tothe pointer 210. The closer the magnet icon 904 to the pointer center910, the stronger the magnitude of the user input (i.e. the “magneticforce”). To make this visually intuitive, the magnet icon 904 increasesin size as the magnet icon 904 moves closer to the pointer center 910.Once the magnet icon 904 overlaps the pointer 210, the magnet icon 904may be limited from getting too close the pointer center 910 (i.e. fromcovering a central targeting area of the pointer 210). Thus the magneticon 904 appears when the input cursor gets within certain proximity ofthe pointer 210, increases in size as the cursor nears the pointer 210,and disappears if the cursor gets too close to the pointer center 910,the magnet icon size increasing as the magnet icon 904 moves closer tothe pointer center 910.

Referring next to FIGS. 10, 11 and 12, exemplary magnet icon pointerconfigurations are shown. Shown in FIG. 10 is a first magnet pointerconfiguration. Shown in FIG. 11 a second magnet pointer configuration,and shown in FIG. 12 a third magnet pointer configuration.

FIGS. 10, 11 and 12 show example configurations of the magnet icon 904and associated pointer 210 at various points in time. The pointer 210will be moving across the display interface 200 based on the groupintent as determined by the CCS 102 and sent to each computing device104 to be displayed on the display interface by the CIA. The magnet icon904 is controlled by the user input in conjunction with the CIA softwareresiding on the computing device 104, the magnet icon 904 representingthe desired magnitude (size of magnet) and direction(position/orientation of magnet) of the user intent. Based on themagnitude/direction/position of the magnet icon 904 with respect to thepointer 210, the CIA software sends the user intent vector to the CCS102 for use in deriving the next group intent.

As shown in FIG. 10, the first magnet icon 1002 has a medium sizecompared to the second magnet icon 1102 of FIG. 11 and the third magneticon 1202 of FIG. 12. This indicates a medium magnitude of intent. Thefirst magnet icon 1002 has been located by the user in a direction asdefined by the first angle 1000, shown to be approximately 50 degrees.

As shown in FIG. 11, the size of the second magnet icon 1102 is smallerthan the first magnet icon 1002 and the third magnet icon 1202,indicating a relatively small magnitude of user intent. The secondmagnet icon 1102 has been located by the user in a direction defined bythe second angle 1100, shown to be approximately 230 degrees.

As shown in FIG. 12, the size of the third magnet icon 1202 is largerthan the first magnet icon 1002 and the second magnet icon 1102,indicating a relatively larger magnitude of user intent. The thirdmagnet icon 1202 has been located by the user in a direction defined bythe third angle 1200, shown to be approximately 310 degrees.

The CCS 102 sums the user intent vectors from the plurality of users,computes the group intent vector, uses the group intent vector to applythe group force vector to the simulated physical model of the pointer210 (mass, damping, etc. . . . ), and based on the physics model sendsthe pointer 210 coordinate information to each computing device 104,each of which are then updated with the new location of the pointer 210.

The result is the satisfying, intuitive, informative, and fun method bywhich individual users can convey their intent/will upon the graphicalpointer 210 that is being controlled not by them individually, but bythe group of users who are all applying real-time synchronous controlinput.

As described previously, some embodiments weight the input from allusers equally. In such embodiments, the magnet icons 904 on the displayinterfaces of all individual users can employ the same mapping betweensize and distance to the pointer 210. However, for embodiments thatweight users differently, magnet size can be scaled accordingly. In thisway, the user who is being granted a higher contribution rate to thegroup due to earning points, can see a larger magnet icon 904 on theirscreen than the user who has been granted a lower contribution rate tothe group. This provides visual intuition.

In general, users only see their individual magnet icon 904 on theirscreen. In some embodiments, however, the system 100 can be configuredto allow the user to see a representation of the magnets controlled byother users. In such embodiments “ghost magnet” icons representing userinputs from other users are employed.

The ghost magnet icons are largely transparent, thus making the ghostmagnet icons easily distinguishable from the user's own magnet icon, andthus preventing the ghost magnet icons from obscuring other importantelements on the display interface. If the user is collaborating alongwith 19 other users, the user might thus see one solid magnet icon 904(under his own control) and 19 ghost magnet icons that represent thereal-time user input being conveyed by the other users. The ghost magneticon for one of the other users would only appear when that user ispositioning his mouse near the representation of the pointer 210 on hisdisplay interface 200. The ghost magnet icons in some embodiments mayresemble a swarm of bugs hovering around the pointer 210. When all ghostmagnet icons are evenly distributed around the pointer 210 (accountingfor both magnitude and direction), the net effect cancels cut and thepointer 210 does not move. But as the group finds consensus, a majorityof the magnet icons would be seen to group themselves on one side of thepointer 210, and the pointer 210 will move. Such a display helps toconvey the group-wise behavior of the users which in many ways emulatesswarms of bugs or flocks of birds. The ghost magnet paradigm is agraphical representation of this swarm-like behavior.

That said, seeing the ghost magnet icons during the collaborativesession could disrupt performance of each individual user, giving eachuser too much insight into the behavior of the other users, even enablethe user to game the system 100. Thus, another innovative method is notto show the ghost magnet icons in real-time, during the control of thepointer 210 to answer the question, but instead to store a history ofthe motion of the plurality of ghost magnet icons and magnet icon 904 inthe CCS 102 and to allow users to see a replay of the session with allinstances of magnet icons visible. In this way, the user can participatein the session, seeing only his own magnet icon 904 (representing hisuser input) and the group-wise pointer 210 that represents the will ofthe group. The pointer 210 will move (if consensus is achieved) andanswer the question. Then, after the group-wise response is crafted andposted for all to see, individual users can ask to see the replay of thesession, and in that replay view the history of the magnet icons,showing how the group came to the consensus, thus forming thecollaborative intelligence that answered the question.

Viewing all magnet icons during the replay (or in real time) has thebenefit of revealing to the users how different the real-time group-wisesynchronous control system 100 is from an asynchronous poll, for themotion of the group of magnet icons reveals the collaborative processthat is not a simple vote but instead a negotiation, the users finding asolution that's highly agreeable for the participants, users having toadjust their view in real time to form a consensus. In this way, thecurrent system 100 does not merely collect views and average them, theway a vote would, but encourages the formation of the totally new “groupview” that may not reflect the will of any particular individual, butdoes reflect the view of the group. As a result, the unique system 100disclosed here can be seen as creating an artificial sentience with itsown views and opinions and personality traits that emerge in real timethrough dynamic negotiation.

Referring next to FIGS. 13, 14, and 15, exemplary tilt arrow pointerconfigurations are shown in one embodiment of the present invention.Shown in FIG. 13 is a first tilt arrow pointer configuration. Shown inFIG. 14 is a second tilt arrow pointer configuration, and shown in FIG.15 is a third tilt arrow pointer configuration.

While the graphical magnet interface as shown in FIGS. 9-12 uses cursorcontrol interfaces such as computer mice, touchpads, trackballs, andtouchscreens, there are many mobile devices that also employ tiltcontrol. As disclosed in the related applications, a number of uniquetilt control input methods can be employed. For example, the user canconvey a desired motion on the group-wise pointer 210 by tilting hispersonal computing device 104 from horizontal to an angle with respectto horizontal direction, the device also tilted in a direction relativeto the display interface 200. The greater the tilt angle, the greaterthe magnitude of the user intent vector. In some embodiments, agraphical icon can be displayed next to the pointer 210 to indicate thedirection and optionally the magnitude of the user intent vector. Thegraphical icon shown in FIGS. 11A-11C is an arrow icon, a direction ofthe arrow icon indicating the direction of the tilt applied by the user,and an arrow icon size showing the magnitude of the tilt applied by theuser. In another example embodiment, the magnet icon 904 can be usedinstead of the arrow icon.

As shown in FIG. 13, the first arrow icon 1302 has a first directionindicated by a first angle 1304 between the pointer vertical axis 902and a first arrow axis 1300. The first angle 1304 is approximately 50degrees. The relatively small size of the first arrow icon 1302represents a relatively small of weak user intent.

As shown in FIG. 14, the second arrow icon 1402 has a second directionindicated by a second angle 1404 between the pointer vertical axis 902and a second arrow axis 1400. The second angle 1404 is approximately 160degrees. The medium size of the second arrow icon 1402 represents amoderate user intent.

As shown in FIG. 15, the third arrow icon 1502 has a third directionindicated by a third angle 1504 between the pointer vertical axis 902and a third arrow axis 1500. The third angle 1504 is approximately 230degrees. The relatively large size of the second arrow icon 1402represents a large or strong user intent.

While many embodiments are described herein, it is appreciated that thisinvention can have a range of variations that practice the same basicmethods and achieve the novel collaborative capabilities that have beendisclosed above. Many of the functional units described in thisspecification have been labeled as modules, in order to moreparticularly emphasize their implementation independence. For example, amodule may be implemented as a hardware circuit comprising custom VLSIcircuits or gate arrays, off-the-shelf semiconductors such as logicchips, transistors, or other discrete components. A module may also beimplemented in programmable hardware devices such as field programmablegate arrays, programmable array logic, programmable logic devices or thelike.

Modules may also be implemented in software for execution by varioustypes of processors. An identified module of executable code may, forinstance, comprise one or more physical or logical blocks of computerinstructions that may, for instance, be organized as an object,procedure, or function. Nevertheless, the executables of an identifiedmodule need not be physically located together, but may comprisedisparate instructions stored in different locations which, when joinedlogically together, comprise the module and achieve the stated purposefor the module.

Indeed, a module of executable code could be a single instruction, ormany instructions, and may even be distributed over several differentcode segments, among different programs, and across several memorydevices. Similarly, operational data may be identified and illustratedherein within modules, and may be embodied in any suitable form andorganized within any suitable type of data structure. The operationaldata may be collected as a single data set, or may be distributed overdifferent locations including over different storage devices, and mayexist, at least partially, merely as electronic signals on a system ornetwork.

While the invention herein disclosed has been described by means ofspecific embodiments, examples and applications thereof, numerousmodifications and variations could be made thereto by those skilled inthe art without departing from the scope of the invention set forth inthe claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A collaborative intelligence system for enablinga plurality of users to jointly control a graphical pointer andcollaboratively select a graphical target from a set of graphicaltargets, the system comprising: a collaborative intelligence serverconfigured to run a collaborative server application and to exchangereal-time data with each of a plurality of networked computing devices,each of the computing devices having a user interface and running acollaborative intent application configured to: display a graphicaltarget board including a plurality of spatially arranged graphicaltargets, each of said graphical targets associated with at least oneword or image; display a collaboratively controlled graphical pointerupon the graphical target board such that pointer can move in relationto the plurality of spatially arranged graphical targets; receive,repeatedly in real-time, from the collaborative intelligence server, apointer location; update, repeatedly in real-time, the displayedlocation of the collaboratively controlled graphical pointer withrespect to the set of spatially arranged graphical targets, the updateddisplayed location based on the received pointer location; receive,repeatedly in real-time, user input through a user interface of thecomputing device, the user input representing a user intent vector, saiduser intent vector indicating a desired direction and magnitude ofmotion of the collaboratively controlled graphical pointer with respectto the plurality of spatially arranged graphical targets; and send,repeatedly in real-time, a representation of the user intent vector tothe collaborative intelligence server; and wherein the collaborativeintelligence application running on the collaborative intelligenceserver is configured to: receive, repeatedly in real-time, therepresentation of the user intent vector, from each of the plurality ofcomputing devices; determine, repeatedly in real-time, a group intentvector from the user intent vectors received from the plurality ofcomputing devices, the group intent vector indicating a collaborativelydesired direction and magnitude of motion of the collaborativelycontrolled graphical pointer with respect to the plurality of spatiallyarranged graphical targets; determine, repeatedly in real-time, anupdated pointer location for the collaboratively controlled graphicalpointer based at least in part upon the group intent vector and asimulated physical model for the collaboratively controlled pointer thatincludes at least one of a mass and a damping; and send, repeatedly inreal-time, the pointer location to the plurality of computing devices.2. The collaborative intelligence system of claim 1, wherein the userintent vector is expressed by each user by controlling a secondgraphical pointer upon the target board, the direction and magnitude ofthe user intent vector being based at least in part upon a distance andan angle between the second graphical pointer and the collaborativelycontrolled graphical pointer.
 3. The collaborative intelligence systemof claim 2, wherein the second graphical pointer is presented as agraphical magnet, an orientation of the graphical magnet always pointingtowards the collaboratively controlled graphical pointer, wherein theorientation of the magnet indicates the direction of the user intentvector.
 4. The collaborative intelligence system of claim 3, wherein thegraphical magnet is displayed larger when the graphical magnet is closerto the collaboratively controlled graphical pointer, thereby indicatinga larger magnitude of the user intent vector.
 5. The collaborativeintelligence system of claim 1, wherein the group intent vector isdetermined based upon a weighted summation of the user intent vectorsreceived from the plurality of computing devices such that the userintent vectors associated with some users are weighted more than theuser intent vectors associated with other users.
 6. The collaborativeintelligence system of claim 5, wherein the weighting used for each useris based at least in part upon performance in previous collaborativesessions for that user.